Couple Separated for 40 Years Finally Find Each Other on Facebook

Have you ever met someone and felt some kind of profound connection but the timing was off and you weren't in a position to pursue it? That was the case with João Crisóstomo, who had a fiancée when he met Vilma Kracun in London. In fact, it was his fiancée who introduced the two of them. At the time, Vilma was an au pair, and Joao was a 26-year-old waiter, but Vilma instantly struck him, Joao told The New York Times:

I found her very attractive, but above all she was a wonderful young lady. She radiated joy, and it was a pleasure to be next to her. At the time, I could see she was a good human being and that this was a relationship I would like to nurture. But it was only that -- a friendship.

Joao and his wife lived in Brazil and then New York. They eventually lost track of Vilma, and Joao's wife was more upset about it than he was. He says:

My wife said: "Where is Vilma? She is my best friend. We have to find her."

But asking common friends about Vilma's whereabouts got him nowhere. When a friend became ambassador to Portugal, he asked him to track down Vilma. No luck. Eventually Joao became a butler to the famous -- including Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

In 2009, he signed up for Facebook, despite not understanding technology. He posted on his wall for people to call him instead. Two years later, he got a call from his former sister-in-law. That's right. By now, Joao was divorced. So when he heard that his former sister-in-law's daughter had found Vilma on Facebook, he perked up.

Vilma had married in the meanwhile too, but she was now widowed. It was 40 years since she'd seen Joao, but when their mutual friend got in touch and mentioned that Joao was looking for her, she got excited. They decided to meet in Paris. Says Vilma:

Going to Paris to meet this dear friend that I had lost and missed for 40 years was the only thing that I could think of, and so I did.

Within hours, Joao knew he didn't want Vilma slipping out of his life again, so he asked her to marry him. In April, they said their vows.

Wow. That says something about never quite giving up on someone, doesn't it? Of course, there's no point in pining away for someone you might never meet up with again, but both were living their lives -- they just happened to have each other in the backs of their minds. It really sounds like these two were meant to be! Imagine if Facebook didn't exist. These two might not have had their long overdue happy ending.